Teen pleads guilty to manslaughter in fatal crash

A Torrey Pines High School student pleaded guilty Tuesday to gross vehicular manslaughter in connection with a drunken-driving crash that claimed the life of one friend and injured another.

The youth, who is 17, entered the plea while his parents looked on from one side of the courtroom. On the other side, family members of the victims in the crash also watched in silence.

The charges carry a sentence of 13 years in custody for adults. But because the youth is being prosecuted as a juvenile, his sentence will likely be far less than that, said his lawyer, Robert Grimes.

A judge could sentence him to home detention, to a period of time at a juvenile youth camp or to the Division of Juvenile Justice, the state prison system for juveniles.

Grimes revealed more details about the Oct. 4 crash yesterday, including information that the youth was driving about 79 mph down a street where the posted limit was 45 mph.

It is the policy of The San Diego Union-Tribune not to identify youths being prosecuted in juvenile court.

Last month the youth indicated he would admit to manslaughter and other charges under a provision of the law called deferred entry of judgment. That would basically allow him to plead guilty and serve probation.

If he committed no other offenses, it would have been possible under that scenario that the charges would not appear on his permanent record.

But yesterday the youth did not do that and instead admitted to the one charge, plus an allegation of inflicting great bodily injury.

Grimes said afterward that the youth and his family concluded there would not be much difference between the sentences he would receive under either scenario.

It is possible that prosecutors and the Probation Department — which wrote a report evaluating the youth’s suitability for deferred judgment — opposed it. Juvenile court records are not public.

Deputy District Attorney Aimee McLeod said after the hearing she could not comment on the report, or whether her office would have opposed a recommendation for deferred judgment.

She disagreed with Grimes, however, that the sentences would not be substantially different. Under deferred judgment, the record is automatically expunged, but it is not when a juvenile admits guilt, she said. And sentencing under deferred judgment is more lenient, she said, and does not include time in custody.

The crash in the early morning hours of Oct. 4 took the life of Alex Capozza, 17. In court yesterday, Grimes said the driver’s blood-alcohol level measured after the crash was 0.11, slightly higher than the 0.10 first reported by authorities. It is illegal for people under 21 to drink at all; for adults the legal limit for intoxication of 0.08.

In addition, a blood test indicated another drug, possibly morphine, was in his system at the time. Grimes said the youth denies taking drugs that night, but the blood sample will be further tested before the sentencing.

Grimes asked Superior Court Judge George “Woody” Clarke to allow the youth to be released to his parents. He said the youth could be released under house arrest and be allowed only to go to classes or be home schooled.

Clarke turned down the request.

The youth will be sentenced Dec. 9. In exchange for the plea, two charges of drunken driving causing injury were dropped.

The crash was one of four fatal crashes involving teenagers in the county since September.